The rubbing of a polymer layer, a commonly applied process, leads to an anisotropic surface morphology, aligning liquid crystal molecules. Scanning force microscopy can be used to intentionally create areas with a similar anisotropy by operating the instrument at loads in the range of 10(-7) to 10(-5) newtons. These areas have an orientation effect on liquid crystals indistinguishable from the rubbing process, which allows a systematic investigation of the orientation properties of an alignment layer as a function of its nanometer-scale morphology. Refractive index patterns can be tailored with this method by scratching a suitable area, as demonstrated by fabrication of an optical waveguide 6 micrometers wide and 5 millimeters long.

Submicron orientational patterns were created in thin liquid crystal polymer films. A rubbed polyimide layer was locally modified by hatching it with the small tip of a simplified atomic force microscope. A nematic liquid crystal mixture, that can be spin-coated and polymerized at room temperature was used to transfer the lithography from the polyimide into the liquid crystal polymer. Gratings as small as 240 nm periods were fabricated. The domain boundaries, which are nothing else than twist disclination lines attached to the substrate surface, influence the topography on a distance much larger than the film thickness. This topographic effect, which consists of a groove and a wall parallel to the boundary, was investigated as a function of the scratching angle, the film thickness and the size of the structure.

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Some examples are selected to demonstrate the variety of possible scanning probe microscopy application in industry. Magnetic and magneto‐optical storage media can be investigated by magnetic force microscopy, whereas a conventional scanning force microscope is used to examine surface features of many different materials, such as technical glasses, photosensitive materials, new superconductors, and biomolecules. Some other examples include the modification as well as the observation of liquid crystal devices, and the impact that scanning probe microscopy has on other techniques such as high precision stepping motors and high quality electron beam sources.